U.S. Justice Department to curb bid-rigging in government purchases

Hanjin Logistics

15/11/2018 20:05

By Diane Bartz
    WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department
plans to be more aggressive in pressing antitrust charges
against companies that have rigged bids for government
contracts, the agency's antitrust chief said on Thursday.
    Makan Delrahim, head of the antitrust division, made the
remarks in a speech a day after the department settled
bid-rigging charges with three South Korean companies which
supplied fuel to U.S. military in that country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1XP1HY 
    SK Energy Co Ltd  SKENGG.UL ; GS Caltex Corp  GSCAL.UL , 50
percent owned by Chevron CVX.N; and Hanjin Transportation Co Ltd
 002320.KS  agreed to pay $236 million in civil damages and
criminal fines, the department said on Wednesday.
    The investigation is ongoing, said Delrahim.
    Delrahim said few cases of bid-rigging had been prosecuted
in the past decade in which the federal government was the
victim, but he expected that to change.
    In the next couple of months, the Justice Department will
announce a task force on state and local conspiracies involving
procurement fraud, said Delrahim.
    Companies that come forward to report bid-rigging in
procurement will pay lower damages and criminal fines, he added.

 (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)
 ((Diane.Bartz@thomsonreuters.com; 1 202 898 8313;))